Hidden Deep Within (OLD)
by sylph-feather
Summary: (CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN UNDER THE SAME NAME). After the Darklands, something shifts inside Jim. It makes its presence well known after his visit to the Deep. (changeling!jim)
1. Into the Deep

**Unfortunately Trollhunters doesn't belong to me, but rather with Dreamworks and the fantastic Del Toro!**

 **Enjoy the story. Also yes, that cute art on the cover is my own~**

* * *

After the darklands, something had changed within Jim.

 _It's the same, it's the same, it's the same,_ he had spouted upon his return. He ignored the feeling of _this-world-is-wrong_ - _wrong-wrong._

His eyes pounded in the bright light.

The air was too light, free of the crushing darkness and eery dust. Breathing felt wrong.

The heartstone pulsed warmly in trollmarket, calling Jim to it in a way it had not before.

 _These things did not matter,_ Jim told himself. _Nothing has changed._

Jim goes down into the Deep.

Jim sees the changes he is afraid of.

His cage clatters to the floor, and Jim decides he is very, very sick of cages.

It doesn't take long to figure out that there isn't an easy way out of this enormous pit, and Jim gives a long suffering sigh as he thinks about the long way to the top. He eyes the cage by at his left, and kicks the thing with an armored foot for good measure, clang resounding in the dark.

Jim wasn't expecting a response. A throaty growl erupts from the darkness, and the hero whirls around, sword materialising in hand.

A black shadow emerges from the dark, tinted with red and weilding an eerily familiar sword.

"What are you…?" is all Jim can say edgewise before the creature lunges at him with a rasping laugh, metal against metal interrupting the silence, sparking.

The creature lunges, lays a few hits upon Jim, retreats to the dark, and repeats- it's an effectively tiresome strategy, and Jim feels his nerves fray further and further with each blow.

In the glow of the daylight sword, it only takes a few sword upon sword clashes to figure out what the creature was.

It was like looking in a warped mirror.

It was himself, yet with terrible fangs and troll-like horns, face twisted in anger and a far deeper voice.

How was _this_ his deepest fear? Jim was honestly expecting Gunmar, or perhaps Strickler… why would he fear this strange fanged version of himself…?

The creature once again flung himself at Jim, and he felt something in his chest burn as he dodged the blow.

"It's already started," the illusion rasped, swinging its blade cockily, red trails of magic searing the air, then added, "it's already over."

Jim was understandably confused, and began to wonder if he should just accept that confusion and chaos was the default state of his life now.

As though sensing Jim's confusion, the creature sidled forward to the boy, who defensively lifted his sword up.

"Soon, you will be like me. Perhaps even worse. They will hate you," the thing hissed at him.

It suddenly summoned Eclipse again, shoving it through the amulet. Jim gasped upon instinct, but just felt an excruciating cold settle in his chest.

The creature withdrew the sword from the amulet, leaving it with a small scratch. Cackling, it ran into the darkness and leaving a puzzled Jim behind.


	2. Digging Deeper

**Hey y'all it's your pal sylph here to deliver the second chapter of the story! It's still a bit intro-y 'cuz I wanna' test the waters of my writing a bit.**

 **Also, would anyone be interested in being a beta to this story, and acting as someone to bounce ideas off of? Please PM me! I can converse here, as well as Discord and Skype.  
Thank you to all those who reviewed- I'm glad you thought it was creative, interesting, and "wicked" (my favorite compliment of all hah!) and wanted more! **

**Without further ado… the second chapter!**

Jim had always been a bit of a fan of ignoring his issues, but fortunately Toby and Claire were attentive enough to make up for the fact that he was blinded by his mantra of _this is the same_ and _everything is fine._ The problems were subtle, yes, and they couldn't blame Jim for brushing it off continuously. The duo had seen the bags under his eyes and panic in his veins, both imbued from the Darklands.

As understanding of that as they were, they knew they had to confront the issue Jim refused to face, and be convincing enough to make him see all that he had brushed off.

To do that, the pair were sitting and discussing _exactly_ when things had gone wrong. Naturally, they started with the Darklands.

...Except. There was nothing wrong there that they didn't know the cause of.

Yes, Jim had adrenaline and fear rushing through his veins nearly always- always watching, always alert.

Yes, sometimes Jim thought he was back in the Darklands- he had described it to Claire and Toby as the world melting away to be replaced by a different scene.

Yes, Jim was scared. Yes, Jim was getting better, but he still seemed too on edge.

As woeful as they were to accept, though, _that_ was a problem that simply needed time and comfort.

As the pair plotted more points, they realized it was after the Deep when all the problems began.

These problems weren't present previously, couldn't be explained by the Darklands. In fact, many made no sense in correlation with fear at all.

Claire jotted down a list.

 _Jim walked strangely._ Sometimes, he walked only on the balls of his feet, splaying his toes out. Steps would be oddly springy, as though his leg was meant to operate differently. Jim seemed unaware of it while it was happening, and would soon settle down into a flat gait.

 _He prefers the dark._ When given a choice, Jim always chose the dark nowadays, seeming to squint and shy away from brighter light to favor a shadowy corner.

 _His eyes shined._ In the dark, his eyes seemed to glow a faint blue. There really was no psychological explanation for this, other than perhaps Claire and Toby were too paranoid- or maybe it was the armor? Was it part of being a Trollhunter?

 _Jim had a weird shadow._ It occasionally had features that couldn't be explained; large bumps on its head and a long trailing thing between its feet. It seemed to flicker between normalcy and… not.

The list was delivered to Blinky, who simply rubbed his large chin worriedly as he thumbed through books on the topic.

 **Haha it's a short one. Sorry.**

 **Man! No dialogue in the fic yet. I can't believe it! Don't worry, there'll be some quite soon~**

 **Also (since we** _ **all**_ **know where this fic is going) I drew a cutie patootie troll!jim right over here-** post/168939531545/weeeee-more-trolljim

 **Reviews are highly valued, even when they're just keyboard smashes, and reminder: I need a beta!**


	3. Fake Enemy

**Haha. Wow. This was a fast update! They will definitely not all be like this.**

 **Reminder: I still need a beta! I'm available for contact here, tumblr, discord, and skype!**

 **Finally, we move past the intro stuff into some NICE ACTION…**

The shadow had been plaguing Jim for days.

Well, perhaps calling it a shadow was not _quite_ the right term- instead, it was his darker monstrous counterpart.

When Jim had first clawed his way out of the Deep, he had dismissed it as being of the same ilk of his visions of the Darklands; waking night terrors, tricks of the mind.

It only appeared briefly and infrequently in his peripherals, then.

The frequency of its appearance had grown since then. Of course. With his luck, things were _always_ bound to get worse.

Soon, the creature began stalking about in his main vision before flickering away. At the time it had gained shadowier skin.

This continued for a week, and while it freaked Jim out a bit when the thing made an appearance he just reminded himself that the creature was not real. His friends could not see it. _Just breathe._

Next, it upgraded to having shadowy talks with Jim when he was alone. It was never fully in view, as though taunting its monstrosity. From what the true Jim could make out, Not-Jim had deep, black skin that seemed to glint as he fled from shadow to shadow, trailing a long tail behind him.

"It will happen soon," the mass of shadow sitting in his room warned him, as it usually did, before laughing and darting to another puddle of darkness. The Eclipse armor was really the only distinguishable thing about it- on top of being seeming constructed of glass-like darkness, Not-Jim's figure seemed to shift in a way that indicated he was merely an illusion.

Jim knew better than to interrupt or pull out his sword. The creature only infuriated him further if it knew it had gotten a rise, and the sword simply passed through it.

"Soon you will be like me," Not-Jim hissed, a flash of glowing blue eyes startling Jim. For a moment, the creature became more solid, tail darting out into the moonlight. "You can feel it as well as I," it crooned, looking more distinguishable than before. The same cold feeling that had given him faint aches since the Deep shifted in Jim's chest like a sharpened rock, causing him to gasp a little and clutch his chest.

Jim stared at the creature of the shadows and wondered if he had just hit his limit on denials and platitudes. Perhaps confronting Blinky was a necessity- though he did not want to bother the troll with his strange fears and hallucinations, he _also_ did not wish for this situation to turn into something more. And it was definitely heading that direction; it wasn't getting better as he had hoped, but instead worse. He couldn't have that interfering with his Trollhunter duties.

With that, he called Claire to open a portal.

 **And… scene! I wanted to get more dialogue heavy in the next chapter.**

 **How do you like it now that things are picking up…? I will** _ **gladly**_ **accept tips as dialogue centric bits are not my strong suit… I think I'm a bit better with descriptive stuff (introspection, setting things up, action, etc…) and it's hard to drop that description when there's dialogue. There will be even** _ **more**_ **dialogue in the next bit...**

 **Anyways, I hope you're enjoying it so far!**

 **Feel free to drop a review, or even a prompt for further stories here or at my tumblr sylph-bird-63.**


	4. Pinnacle Tension

**Reminder: I need a beta reader! I can communicate here, but also on tumblr, discord, and skype- whatever is easiest for you. Just PM me~**

 **Happy New Year! Geez I'm pumping these chapters out fast! Enjoy!**

When Jim had entered Blinky's 'fake' study through the portal, he had not expected to find Claire and Toby already there, talking with Blinky. He gave them a joyous "hello!" only for Toby's eyes to widen, and for Claire to turn awkwardly towards him.

Jim simply took in the handiwork of the study- when they were forced to flee from Gunmar, the trolls chose a secluded set of mountainous caves as their new temporary home. Using Claire's portals, the group stealthily stole everything important from Trollmarket and transported it to the caves. That of course included a great many of Blinky's books.

Toby was the first to break the silence by chucking a horseshoe at Jim's midsection, snapping him back to the present. The boy caught it with cat like reflexes and a questioning look.

"Sorry! That just slipped out of my hands! You scared me," Toby laughed nervously.

Claire ran her hand down her face exasperatedly, but Jim readily accepted the answer, passing the gaggletack over to Toby once more. She gave a significant look to Blinky.

"Are you doing research on changelings?"

Jim's query seemed to set everybody into normalcy again, setting them into a flurry of motion.

"Ah, yes!" Blinky barked, "We want to know if there's a way they can imitate people who grew up as normal humans, and if there are any ways around gaggletacks we are unaware of."

Claire and Toby shifted their gazes towards Blinky, edging away from Jim as they realized what the troll was trying to subtly imply.

Jim seemed perfectly unaware of their trepidation and doubt, giving a beaming smile at them.

"You saying… Jim changeling?" AAARRRGGHH! asked, not exactly grasping the concept of subtlety.

Everyone turned to AAARRRGGHH! slowly, causing the large troll to rumble an "oops."

Everything erupted into sheer chaos.

Jim only had time to elicit a confused _huh_ before AAARRRGGHH! swiped him up in a large stone hand, Blinky, Claire, and Toby apologizing all the while. Jim halfheartedly squirmed- these were his friends, he didn't want to fight them!

AAARRRGGHH! calmly made a cage of bookshelves and plopped Jim directly into it, while Blinky plucked away Jim's amulet.

"Is this a training thing?"

Everyone lapsed into awkward silence.

Jim's breathing began to grow a bit heavy, eyes darting around the prison. Claire and Toby looked at each other, reminded of the glowing prison Jim was trapped inside in the Darklands, and the hanging cage that hurdled the boy into the deep.

They broke the silence.

"I'm not sure how to phrase this, Jim," Claire started. "But-"

"JIM ARE YOU A CHANGELING?" Toby nervously blurted.

"That isn't how I would've addressed it," the girl sighed, running a hand down her face before continuing, "we've noticed some odd things about you. Blinky did some research, and they were all linked to changelings."

Jim just blinked then shrugged and said with a small chuckle, "I didn't think about that. Maybe I am."

This was clearly the wrong thing to say, and everyone was giving shouts of _where's the real Jim_ and _what have you done with him_ and other such cries of desperation as they surrounded the small cage.

"Wait, wait hold on! I didn't mean I'm not Jim. The uh, original I mean. I think something _happened_ in the Darklands and the Deep."

"You mean to say that you think you _became_ a changeling?" Blinky clarified.

"Uh, yes. I'm not sure how, though."

And with that, Jim began to explain his side of the story- the shadow from the deep and the strange chest throes. Claire and Toby added their own observations in now and again, but remained intent on his tale.

 **Sort of an abrupt end but I wasn't sure where to end this one…**

 **Dialogue is not my strong suit. If anything sounds awkward or OOC just lemme know so I can fix it in the future!**

 **Also, reminder that I have a tumblr where I take prompts and also have posted some art for this fic. It's sylph-bird-63.**

 **Here's the art:** sylph-bird-63. / post / 168939531545 / weeeee-more-trolljim

 **Just take out the spaces, 'cuz FFN is lame, haha.**


	5. To the Surface

**IMPORTANT A/N: I** _ **minorly**_ **changed the story- mostly the setting. I wasn't sure when I wanted this story to take place- after the Deep, but before Gunmar is risen (as in there's a bigger lapse of time between the two events)** _ **or**_ **after season 2 (but before Nomura and Strickler randomly show up). Originally I did the former, but I changed the setting slightly so that it would fit with the latter.**

 **All you need to know is that what remains of Trollmarket is living on the fringes of Arcadia in caves, and Claire managed to get some important items using her portals afterwards (ie, Blinky's books, gaggletacks, small pieces of hearthstone, and the like). You probably don't need to reread it unless you want to, that's the only thing I changed**

 **REMINDER: I still need a beta! I can talk to you here, tumblr, discord, or skype.**

 **Anyways, enjoy the story! Sorry for that long A/N.**

When Jim finished his explanation and received input from the rest of the group, everyone looked mildly worried.

Naturally, AAARRRGGHH! was the first to respond to the delicate situation by plucking Jim up from the walls of bookshelves, and shoving his huge nose into Jim's chest. Jim looked quite uncomfortable when AAARRRGGHH! began to breathe in deeply, having an almost vacuum like effect on the blue turtleneck.

"Smell like troll," the large creature put elegantly, dropping Jim back into the cage of books.

"I'm not a spy!" Jim protested as he looked at the hesitation in his friends faces from atop the bookshelves.

"I believe you, Master Jim," Blinky sighed from a window made of books, "but I also believe that you are a changeling, even if you are the original."

"This is confusing," Toby stated bluntly.

"I believe that Gunmar's blade perhaps affected you in a negative way. We have seen him turning all types of trolls into a single armored type under his complete command. Though he did not get fully finished with that treatment with you, perhaps it affected you more than we thought," Blinkous explained to the wary and confused group.

"So you're saying he tried to make me part of his troll army, but since I'm human and he didn't finish the process… I became a changeling?"

"Yes, Master Jim."

The Trollhunters took a moment to process that information. It was Claire that spoke up first.

"How do we test to see if that's really true?"

"Gaggletacks are usually the surefire way of revealing a changeling. However, Master Jim's form seems to be buried deep within… so I do not know."

"Wait! I might be able to uh, get it shallower," Jim said awkwardly. He closed his eyes, coaxing the cold feeling in his chest out.

"So, you finally summon me," said a voice right behind his ear, causing him to jump and everyone else around him to stare in confusion at the spot that Jim was staring… only to see nothing.

The strange dark troll crept around the bookshelves, cackling. It pounced up by Toby and Claire, making a show to be relaxed, tail leisurely dangling off the shelf.

Then, it leapt right at Jim, who made no move to dodge, and passed right into his chest.

 **Wee! Finally! Bit of a short one but this was a good cut off.**

 **I'm off to a skiing trip now so the next chapter won't be out for a coupla days, unless I finish it in the next hour.**

 **Go ahead and shoot me a prompt on here, or on my tumblr, sylph-bird-63, where you can also check out some TH doodles.**


	6. Different Look

**Time for an update! I'm glad I managed to pump this out before the ski trip!**

 **Thank you Dimensional Phaser for volunteering as a beta!**

The only way Jim could describe the transformation was _cold_ and _painful_. The sound of his heart in his chest drowned out the gasps of hif friends as an electric blue raced around his body. It was like all of him was freezing, every sense cut off from the world and redirected into blinding pain.

And just like that, it was over.

"You didn't even need a gaggletack," Blinky breathed, inspecting Jim's shadowy form.

Jim knew what that implied but he didn't exactly want to face the facts quite, so he just clamped his eyes shut and put his hands on his head.

He had been ok with it before.

Probably because _before_ he was in some state of disbelief in which he denied everything and thought that there was no way it could be true. It was a bit harder to deny now that he was a full blooded troll.

Claire and Toby gave a look to each other, recovering from their surprise enough to notice that Jim was having a panic attack. They leapt down into the musty cage of bookshelves, and each placed a hand on a rocky shoulder.

Jim's shoulders shook under their hands.

"You're still you!" Claire assured, patting the deep black stone.

"Yeah! And you look _awesome_ ," Toby added. "And soft."

Jim blinked, momentarily caught off guard by that statement. _Soft?_

He carefully removed his hands from his face, trying to ignore the curious and mildly scared gazes of his friends as he stared down at his chest, covered in a mass of blue fur that tickled his chin.

"Oh. I _am_ soft," he said, and immediately his hands flew to his throat, as though clutching it would stop his voice from being gravelly.

Toby took Jim's somewhat pricked up ears as a good sign and decided to keep talking.

"Yeah, and you have these little baby nubs!" he laughed, poking one of the small horns protruding from Jim's hair.

Jim's rocky claws followed him, feeling the tiny horn.

"Man, I was hoping they'd be like Draal's horns," Jim joked in a watery voice.

Toby continued pointing out the less terrifying aspects of Jim's trollish form, deciding to ignore the long claws on his feet and hands, and not really mentioning the sharp fangs resting in his mouth.

Instead, he pointed out Jim's tail.

"Do trolls normally have such long tails?" Claire finally spoke, directing the question to Blinky.

Meanwhile, Jim was watching his tail lazily drift around in amazement, seemingly unaware that he had a tail, and also unable to control it. Toby laughed and prodded at the tip that was coated in a crest of blue fluff.

"Not normally, but it's not impossible," Blinky answered with a chortle as Jim and Toby stared at the tail.

"You know, you seem like you're made from obsidian," Toby said, rapping on Jim's glassy black skin gently. Claire touched his cool skin as well, gentle but curious.

"Obsidian?"  
"Yeah! It's like… volcanic rock. Glass, actually! It happens when lava cools."

Jim looked at his arm curiously then too, mimicking their rapping of his skin with a soft chuckle. He was much calmer now.

"Sorry for freaking out on you guys… I just, I want to be… normal."  
"Dude, you're the Trollhunter. Normal isn't even in our vocabulary anymore."

"I guess that's true," Jim laughed tightly and wiped the tears from his glowing eyes. "Thanks."

"No problem man," Toby said, and Claire nodded along. They gathered around him in a tight sort of hug.

Toby grinned a tad mischievously, and reached out for the now tired changeling's blue scruff, giving it an experimental stroke. Jim was so tired from the transformation and general stress of the last few days that he didn't even seem to notice- only calm down further. Gently and somewhat awkwardly, Toby and Claire stroked his blue fuzz as Jim curled into a ball with a yawn.

"He's like a little cat," Toby whispered fondly.

"I'm just glad he seems ok, mostly," Claire sighed, hand between her boyfriend's shoulderblades.

 **FLUFF! In multiple ways!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this. If you wanna see my design of troll!jim, go here (and remove the spaces):** sylph-bird-63 .tumblr post/168939531545/ weeeee-more-trolljim


	7. Step by Step Guide to Being a Troll

**Send me prompts at sylph-bird-63 on tumblr or on the comments of this fic!**

 **Especially since the next few chapters of this fic are basically just sort of fluffy chapters of troll!jim and I can EASILY squeeze in your prompts, troll headcanons, etc in this fic... please! :)**

 **Anyways, enjoy~**

* * *

While Jim slept, AAARRRGGHH! and Blinky worked on shifting the shelves out of their cage like position, now that they had the full explanation of Jim's strange condition.

Jim had been so tired from the stress of his past few weeks, the transformation, and the late time that he fell asleep right away under the comforting hands of Toby and Claire, curled sweetly between them. Within an hour, the human pair followed suit, hands adorably resting on Jim's soft blue mane, like some sort of adorable pet at their feet.

Slowly, Blinkous pulled out a phone, quietly thanking Jim for teaching him to be able to use the camera app despite the fact that in this instance it would be his downfall.

With the soft click sound effect, Jim's eyes shot open and sharply gasped before darting upwards... and upwards... and upwards. It was like Jim's legs contained springs that were suddenly triggered with the shock. Truly, it was impressive. With grace that seemed instinctive, Jim landed on the bookshelf above, perched comfortably.

Then he seemed to notice his predicament, and all grace abandoned him as he panicked, bookshelf shaking awkwardly as the new changeling tumbled from his perch. Jim landed with a fantastic bang, a few books joining him on the floor.

At this point, Toby and Claire were up, barely containing there laughter at the heap of changeling. Jim's large nostrils flared and he gave a frustrated huff, shifting his rocky mouth into a frown.

"Jim, I'm sorry, but you're pretty cute," Claire hummed, walking over and giving a small poke on his large blue nose.

Jim just gave another very troll-like snort followed by a gargled sigh. "I guess it's better than ugly," he laughed, extending his thin fingers, careful to keep the deadly sharp blue claws away from Claire as she heaved him to his feet. Like a baby deer, he stumbled awkwardly on those first steps before his tail raptorially balanced him out.

Toby was having a tougher and tougher time restraining his laughter as Jim shot him a glare without heat, taking a few steps toward him... and failing miserably. Once again, Jim was but a pile of changeling on the cave floor.

Toby could maintain his laughter no longer, and Jim's face literally glowed a brilliant blue as he once again klutzily pushed himself up from the floor.

Claire seemed amazed by his, in her words, "adorable glowing blush." This cause Jim's long ears to flatten out and his blush to glow brighter, and his claws began playing self consciously with his blue turtleneck and jeans that were partially torn by the change.

While it was funny, the human pair decided it was time to help their poor friend keep himself from continuously eating the cave floor.

Jim seemed a little embarrassed at the whole ordeal— he couldn't even walk!— but accepted their offered shoulders anyways, trying to walk around in a way that wouldn't result with his face meeting with the floor, but was not doing to well. It was hard to get rid of the instinct to walk like a person, and his new legs didn't cooperate with that instinct.

"You know, you look kind of like Nomura," Toby said suddenly. In the past, Jim might've taken offense to this, but after the Darklands... was it wrong for this to incite a strange sense of warmth?

"Try to imitate her walk, Master Jim," Blinky input.

Jim considered this, carefully lifting each leg as the whole group watched on.

"No pressure or anything," he laughed a bit as he surveyed his friends and stumbled through a few steps with significantly more grace than before.

Within a few laps around the cave room, new instincts had taken over, and Jim was comfortably walking around the room. Experimentally, he upped it to a canter, only to earn a bookshelf to the face and some snorts from his friends as they hauled him up.

Well, he still had a bit to learn.

* * *

 **Yeet! Kinda short, but sweet! Anyways. Please send some prompts in for this fic! I'd love to include your prompts/headcanons in the next few filler chapters (overall this fic isn't very much asides from filler. I want to write troll!jim! Fanfic is nothing if not self indulgent.)**

 **Thank you Dimensional Phaser for beta reading! I hope y'all enjoy the better cover art, too :)**


	8. Sunlight

**prompts are always welcome! Thank you for those who have given them- I thought the idea of Jim puffing up was really cute, as the idea of his fur changing colors slightly based on emotion, so I used both in this chapter. I'll probably use more of y'all's prompts as the story goes!**

 **This series is more "interconnected oneshots" than it is a full on heavy plot and whatnot.**

 **Anyways, enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

It took Jim a while to get the hang of movement, but once he did, he was looking less like a disgruntled fawn and more like a competent and graceful deer, steps high and long. It certainly fit the way that Claire and Toby previously observed him subconsciously walking in human form.

While all this was great, the night was waning and soon it would be time for the trio to return to their beds in order to face the ordeal of school. Sunlight crept through the entrance of the cave, warning them of their short time.

"We have to go!" Toby barked, starting a mad dash for the cave entrance.

Jim lead the charge to the outside, graceful legs propelling him over stacks of books and rocks, setting a truly amazing pace as he barrelled into the sunlight.

Of course, Jim was forgetting one important fact. A fact that set Blinky and AAARRRGGHH! into a manic state of terror as Jim bounded towards his inevitable death.

Thankfully, AAARRRGGHH! managed to snatch the boy right out of the air, mid bounce. Jim swung from his grasp comically, deer legs dangling in the air.

"Still troll. Sun will hurt," AAARRRGGHH! explained simply.

Jim's face dropped, and it looked as if his face would turn pale were it not stone. Instead, his chest fur seemed to pale, particularly at the edges, and it puffed up with anxiety. Naturally, Jim didn't like the idea of crumbling, nothing left of him but shale.

AAARRRGGHH! gave the boy a rough pat on the head in comfort.

"Master Jim, I suggest you change back," Blinky sighed, banishing the energy and fear that had gripped him when Jim nearly launched himself into the sunlight.

Jim turned his attention inwards, searching for the cold stone in his chest. His focus was interrupted by a loud, gravelly voice that stated "I will not leave."

When he blinked his eyes open, there was a pale eyed version of himself. Not-Jim had returned to seemingly take a stand. The creature cackled, before disappearing into his chest once more.

Jim spun around to face the group of trolls.

"I, uh, can't."

This was met with collective slumps and exhaustion because when can anything go right in our lives. Dejectedly, Toby plucked the glamour mask from a shelf and donned it.

Jim found himself face to face with himself.

Well, not quite face to face.

He was taller. He was taller than himself and wow that was weird to think about.

It wasn't too much of a difference- before, he had reached up to the end of Blinky's large nose, but now he was more level with the troll's eyebrows. He supposed it was his elongated legs. Either way though, it was strange to look down on himself.

"I'm tall," he stated redundantly, causing the others to snicker.

"You didn't notice before?! I have to look way up to talk to you," Claire snorted, giving Jim a small nudge.

"I guess I was too caught up in it all," he said sheepishly.

"We really have to go," Toby said antsily, and it was downright weird to hear his own voice say that. "I'll just go to class as you, I can afford to miss a few days. I don't think the Jim Lake disease will work again."

"Thanks," Jim grinned, and the two humans winced instinctively at the razor sharp teeth before nervously smiling back. The pair then darted out the door in a hurry.

Jim turned towards Blinky, large ears flicking up in an unspoken question.

"Come, let us continue your training Master Jim," Blink smiled, placing one of his many arms upon Jim's back and guiding him through the cave system.

* * *

 **Woot! This was fun to write. Jim is a string bean in any form.**

 **See ya next time, don't forget to drop a prompt/headcanon for this or future stories.**


	9. Food for Thought

**Heya, sorry it's been a little bit! School started up again, so naturally that means slower updates. I'll try to update at least once a week!**

 **Thank you all for the prompts and compliments! Shoutout to PlatoOfAncientRome34 on Fanfiction for the prompt for this chap! Now, without further ado~**

—-

Two days of immense frustration and changeling research had passed.

Thankfully, Claire and Toby were eager to act as Jim at home and school, this time able to actually relay notes and lessons. It was a miracle Jim had been able to catch up on the lessons he missed in the Darklands, and he certainly didn't need more to study for, so he was quite happy about that fact as well.

Even with the help of his friends, though… a solution had not arrived.

The Decimaar blade was said to transform any troll into a Gumm-Gumm, and dissolve their will, making them loyal to Gunmar. Nothing they found mentioned humans, and thus the group was left to simply assume that a similar occurrence happened in this case, and far more slowly. Gunmar himself had said that Jim's will was strong, and the fact that he was both human and the Trollhunter likely screwed with the magic.

Unfortunately, nowhere was a solution mentioned. In his previous attack and consequent banishment, all of Gunmar's army had been taken to the Darklands with him.

Toby slammed shut another book, startling Jim, who was still not quite used to his enhanced hearing.

The troll-boy gave a sigh, dangling his tail down from his unusually high position atop a bookshelf. Nobody had chosen to comment on his place of rest, instead just tossing books for him to read.

"Maybe you just gotta beat him. Like a videogame. Beat the boss and everything is all healed," Toby suggested, resting his head on the book frustratedly.

Blinky shrugged with all his arms, which was truly a sight to see. "We do not know much of the Decimaar blade, and it seems these books do not either. That is the best solution we have."

Toby sighed, then grabbed the gaggletack off the table and threw it at Jim just to be sure. The boy's ears flicked back, and he brushed it off his fuzzy chest with a soft clank and an unamused glance at Toby from his perch. Toby just shrugged, going back to reading.

A moment later, everyone heard a soft crunching sound from where Jim resided. AAARRRGGHH!, the tallest, peeked over the edge of the shelf to see Jim, with the gaggletack shoved between his fangs, chewing on it contemplatively as he shone the Amulet of Daylight upon the tome. When he noticed AAARRRGGHH!, his mouth fell open, and the horseshoe dropped from it with a harsh clang.

AAARRRGGHH! simply laughed as Jim stared dumbstruck at the horseshoe he had been biting.

"I didn't mean to do that," he said dumbly.

"JIM TEETHING," AAARRRGGHH! boomed joyously, chortling.

Jim's head popped over the edge of the bookshelf to look down at Blinky. "What?"

"Ah, Master Jim," Blinky laughed good naturedly. "It is perfectly normal for young trolls to rub their teeth against everything and anything."

"What?! I'm not that young!"

"In troll years, yes you are," Blinky informed. Jim simply looked mortified.

"How do I stop it?"

"Well, it sometimes happens when you're hungry, Master Jim."

"You haven't eaten in like days, Jimbo," Toby added, barely repressing a laugh in an attempt to at least leave his friend some humility.

"Well I wasn't that hungry, I guess now that you mention it I am a little…" he sighed, trying to stop sizing up the smaller rocks around the cave to put in his mouth.

"Trolls need to eat far less than humans," Blinky hummed as Jim effortlessly bounced downwards from the shelf.

"What do trolls eat?" Jim questioned, and when Blinky began to take a breath he added, "asides from socks."

"Oh Master Jim, they are quite delicious if only you-"

"No."

"Well, most trolls eat various rocks, on top of various types of metals. Your human cans are quite delicious."

Jim rubbed a clawed hand over his face. "Let's get this over with."

—-

When Blinky handed Jim a pile of sandstone, he decided to listen to the troll instincts in him saying yes, yes, yes rather than his chef instincts that were off on a tangent about how terrible it would taste.

It was… grainy. To be expected, really. He expected it to taste like sand, and though it certainly crumbled and had a similar texture, it really didn't taste like… anything.

Perhaps that was why trolls liked socks? Their sense of taste was so dulled that the only thing to penetrate it was rank cloth. Maybe he was overthinking things.

He sighed, and reached for another rock, awkwardly cracking it with his fangs.

This didn't entirely stop the urge to shove anything into his mouth, unfortunately. It merely curbed it.

It was mostly thoughtless; one moment he'd be surrounded by rocks and reading a book on the Decimaar blade, mouth empty. The next moment, he'd realize that one of said rocks would be stuck in his mouth, and had been there for an indeterminate amount of time.

Needless to say, it was incredibly frustrating. Blinky and AAARRRGGHH! found it adorable.

"It will pass once your fangs are sharp, Master Jim," Blink said, patting the young troll's horns.

"How long?" Jim asked shortly, trying to stop eyeing up the fist sized rock. Blinky handed it to him, much to his annoyance.

"It will likely stop within the next few days," he said, watching Jim begrudgingly shove the rock in his mouth and chew on it, hateful glare adorning his face.

—-

 **Sorta short but eh! Whatever. It was a fun write.**

 **Poor Jim.**

 **Cya next time, y'all! Shoutout to Dimensional Phaser for betaing!**


	10. Eclipsing the Peace

**Sorry this took a bit! The progression fought me but I got it all figured out~**

 **Check out the rad art that was made by samdragons-official-art on tumblr! Thanks, dude! You rock!**

Of course, the relative peace could not last forever.

The chaos had a start (as all mishaps tend to) and it went as such-

After three days, Jim decided that he couldn't remain cooped up inside the library searching for a cure to his current condition, and letting Toby and Claire remain watchdogs as Gunmar did who-knows-what in Trollmarket. He gritted his fangs and decided he'd just have to deal with this new form in combat, and determinedly stomped out of the shadowy caves the trolls had taken refuge in.

"I want to help," he had explained to Claire and Toby as the pair insisted they could take care of the Trollhunting, since he wasn't exactly adjusted to his new form.

Jim just waved them off with his claws, and summoned the armor, watching as it shifted to accommodate his legs and added fluid articulated segments to his long tail.

He swung the sword around a bit, already feeling more in his element. It certainly felt better than his strained turtleneck and torn jeans.

He gave a quick nod to Toby and Claire, and the troupe set off into the night.

xXx

Nothing but a few of the goblins were prowling around in the chill of the evening.

"They're not even blood goblins," Jim complained a little, drawing his sword from the disgusting green goop.

"Yeah, I was hoping for something kinda' cool on your first night back, too," Toby sighed between splats of goblins under his hammer.

Claire looked just about ready to smack herself with her staff, but thankfully elected to aim it at the goblins instead. "Are you two really hoping for danger?"

Jim just shrugged sheepishly while Toby nodded eagerly. Claire flicked goblin-slime in their direction, very intentionally swiping the last goblin towards them.

Jim gave an exasperated snort, and then dramatically stilled, ears shooting up and tail going stiff. The amulet flooded the area with a harsh glow.

It was hard for Toby and Claire not to notice the sudden shift in mood, and they settled into a fighting position, eyeing Jim as his ears swiveled about.

There was... nothing. After about five minutes Toby gave Claire a significant side glance.

She just shrugged softly, then turned to Jim.

"What is it?" she prompted warily.

Out of the darkness lunged a frighteningly familiar figure, garbed in armor of harsh red and black.

 **Also, I'm sylph_feather on ao3 if any of you prefer that site... I posted some Heathers fic on there that unfortunately can't transfer over since it's got mature themes- suicide and all. If any of you wanna see it, it's up there~**


	11. Brought from the Deep

"You again?" Jim hissed, turning his sword warily in his hands.

The shadowy not-Jim stepped out of the shadows with a chuckle, cockily tossing his sword between his claws. The creature gave a smug sharp toothed grin, head cocked, before tossing Eclipse directly at the real Jim, forcing the boy to give a quick hop before employing his tried and true strategy: running.

"Did you use that stone again?" Toby squaked, sizing up the hammer with a flare of orange.

"No! Wait, you can see him?" he yelled, his shadow self directly behind him. Jim quickly scampered up a tree in a stunning display of bravery.

"Then what is he?" Claire said, aiming the shadow staff at the darting monster.

"I don't know! Before, only I could see him!"

Lost in his explanation, Jim barely flicked his tail out of the way as Eclipse bit into the branches.

"Little help here?" Jim yowled, dropping from the tree again and renewing the game of keep away. Not-Jim simply gave an evil laugh, landing on all fours and giving a mighty leap.

"He's too fast to hit!" Claire gritted back, forming a portal where the evil Jim was a moment ago.

"Gunmar broke part of your will and made me, now you will join me when I break all of it. Gunmar has strengthened me, you will not win," the creature growled, baring its fangs and pointing its blackened sword towards a gulping Jim.

"Uh, do I get a say in this?"

The thing merely laughed, dodging a hefty swing from Toby before leaping over Jim and rushing him with the deadly blade.

Jim backpedaled, blocking the strike swiftly, before the two began a deadly dance, mirroring one another.

While the two were distracted with one another, Claire and Toby edged forward. Toby held up three fingers, readying his hammer and counting down silently.

Jim caught them out of the corner of his eye, and he quickly doubled his effort in distraction, attempting to pin his red-eyed foe to assure a good hit.

And a good hit it was- with a mighty clash against the Eclipse armor, the combined blast of the shadow staff and warhammer to send him flying.

With a snarl, the changeling dug its hooves into the ground to stop its sliding. It touched the ground with a hand like a runner, and set lunging with a guttural screech at the trio. They quickly scattered to avoid the mad swinging, circling just out of reach, with Not-Jim becoming a tornado of swings. The blade clanged against the ground, attempting to cut each of its foes, and the trio struck back with equal success. Despite being three against one, it was an even match.

Both sides could only keep going for so long, and the trio were unused to circling like wolves around prey, instead used to a more one on one battle. They faltered first.

Seeing his opportunity, Not-Jim struck a fast and hard blow at Jim, knocking him back, before swinging at the distracted Claire and Toby.

Free of the circle, he once again relentless pursued Jim, who was clearly flagging at this point- the enemy, on the other hand, was driven with a manic, violent fervor.

The blade chewed on Jim's tail, the pair running and jumping off walls, much to the dismay of the other two slower members of the trio.

It was only so long until Jim was slowing, and he turned to give his last push. Claire and Toby had been left far behind in their long city chase, the two squaring off in the middle of the street.

Their blades clashed, giving everything each one had- their tails lashed at one another, claws swiped, and the pair even butted horns before attempting to impale the other.

It was only a burning sensation of Jim's tail that gave him momentary pause, allowing his foe to knock him back… right into the sun.

His vision was graying as he watched his counterpart give a disdainful glare at the sunlight and darting away, leaving him clutching at the shadow.


	12. Recouperating

**Wow, so season 3 was great! Well, most of it. Episode 10 is where it really got good… I can't say I liked the stuff before it that much, though... I'll start writing fic for it once I finish this, I think. It's a shame this wasn't done earlier, like it was meant to be, but ah well! Now I have the opportunity to sneak some elements into this fic from season 3. Sorry for the kinda short chapter and lack of updates... I'll try to be better. I think my favorite comment interaction is "I hope his tail is ok" / "I hope HE'S ok!"**

 **xXx**

Jim awoke slowly, the fog of sleep clinging to him moreso than normal. He felt… loopy. Disconnected. Thoughts came to him in shards.

"Hey," he said to the blurry figures that may have been Claire and Toby.

Toby may have barked a " _he lives!"_ but everything sounded watery and unreal. He took a moment to collect his scattered brain.

"This is a warehouse," he stated obviously. Claire and Toby just looked at each other worriedly, looking a bit less blob like. "Like the one we stayed in before we moved to the cave," he added helpfully, eliciting another Look.

"I think he's out of it," Claire stated, with a nod from Toby. Jim decided they weren't worth paying attention to, and started to get up.

"Wait! Wait!" Toby yelped, but it was too late- the changeling was overcome with a lava-like pain. He got a glimpse of gray stone and immediately started to panic.

"I've been- I've been-"

"Yeah Jim! We know! Claire, have you gotten hold of Blinky yet?"

"I'm just calling him now! We just dragged Jim in here!"

Toby turned his attention back to Jim, who was breathing fast and heavy. All at once, the kid bolted.

It was hard to run on legs that were stiff and severely injured, but Jim managed just fine, throwing himself on top of boxes and scrambling up to a beam in the warehouse, pushing himself into the wall.

Toby motioned to the shadow staff, and Claire quietly portaled the pair up to the beam. They gently approached Jim as though he was a cornered animal, which perhaps was not too far from the truth. As they drew closer, Jim drew further into himself with a snarl, ears pinned back, fangs bared, and horns on full display.

Claire hung back, unsure- but Toby continued despite the threatening display.

He placed a gentle hand on the Trollhunter's shoulder, patting his fluff gently. The deep growl stopped immediately.

"I nearly died," Jim murmured, glancing down at the gray stone that mottled his legs and tail.

"We won't let you," Toby smiled, gently stroking Jim's ruff.

Jim had the sudden urge to say _no, stop that, I'm not a pet,_ but a deep rumble in his chest cut him off. Toby contained a giggle with a snort, and Jim just knocked his horns back against the boxes, closing his eyes. Well, he could let it go this once… it felt _so_ nice, and was a good distraction from the hurt…

xXx

Jim awoke to Toby gently shaking him awake, blinking blearily at the dull gray ceiling obscured by his friend's face.

"Blinky says we have to chip away the dead stone, and that once you get to the heartstone, it will slowly heal itself back up, so long as there's not a huge chunk missing," Claire explained gently, kneeling down to his level.

"Didn't know this thing would be useful on _you_ ," Toby added, waving a small pick from his rock collection and trying to smile a bit. Keeping Jim calm was clearly the pair's priority, but…

"We would take you to Trollmarket to do it, but… it's daylight, and Blinky says we need to do it _now_. He also says it will hurt," Claire said somberly.

"That's… that's ok. Just do it," Jim hissed, covering his face with his claws.

Slowly, the stone fell away with Toby's gentle hand, clanking on top of the beam. At first, Jim tore at his fur and then his horns as a distraction, until Claire offered a hand to squeeze.

When his claws cut her hand, Jim went right back to his previous methods, being deeply apologetic about the blood.

"Jim, you're the one who's part stone, quit being sorry. It's just a little blood," Claire ordered, yet the boy still wouldn't take the offered hand. Claire sighed, instead beginning to stroke Jim's hair and fur, seeing as that had worked last time. She also took up a little conversation.

"You know, your horns are glowing," she offered. Jim opened an eye, and she startled. "So are your eyes," she laughed. "It looks pretty cool."

"Done!"

Jim chanced a look at the bits of shale, experimentally flicking his tail. It hurt, still, but not nearly as bad as before. His legs and tail looked a bit odd, with uneven bits like scars where Toby had chipped the spots of gray away.

Jim gave a fanged smile at the pair of his friends, then paused a moment- "isn't it Friday?"

Claire and Toby glanced at each other guiltily.

"I'll be okay in here, and go back to Trollmarket once the sun goes down. Get to school," he laughed, waving the pair off.

As Toby and Claire hesitantly shadow portaled away, Jim slid back down to catch a nap.

 **Someone on here asked a good question: why does Jim not simply use a glamor mask? I actually plan to have him do so later- but the main reason is that still doesn't remove his whole sunlight problem. He'd have to go see his mom at night, or manage to stay in the shade the entire day.**


	13. Agility Training

**Y'all have probably noticed, but this series is pretty "episodic." One chapter doesn't equal an episode, but I am kinda trying to mimic the show in its episodic-ness. Am I doin alright with that? I'm genuinely curious, since it's certainly a different way of writing for me.**

 **From this point onwards, season 3 influences will get stronger, though I'm not going to just redo it- fret not. Overall I'm keeping my story relatively similar to what I had planned.**

 **Anyways, on with the chapter! You lucky ducks get 2 in one day! Congratulations!**

 **xXx**

"Jim, I know you're here," a voice snarled into the darkness. The damaged Trollhunter woke with a start, slowly raising himself- who could it be? His dark twin, sent by Gunmar to finish him off?

With that thought in mind, he remained deadly silent, creeping over the beam. His opponent was a mere shadow, peering over boxes… but the silhouette looked greatly like his own, long draping tail and pricked ears. Jim summoned twin blades for maximum stealth, preparing to drop down and then-

"What are you doing?!" Strickler barked from the ground, causing Jim to flail and fall off the beam with less grace than intended. Nomura sprang out of the way, what looked like a tail revealed to be hair as it streamed after her.

In an impressive display, Jim twisted around and managed to land in a crouch on top of a box, jarring his injured legs and tail.

"I thought you were someone else," he said sheepishly, shaking off the pain. Then he tilted his ears a little- "you're not here to attack me, are you? I mean, I don't think you would-" he motioned to Nomura, then continued while looking at Strickler, tail swishing, "but I don't exactly trust _you._ "

"You're our best hope of defeating Gunmar. Why would I slay you?"

"Oh, that's… actually a good point. But how did you find me? And why?"

"Well, we heard tell the Trollhunter was… well, more _troll_ hunter now," Nomura grinned. "Good to see the rumours are true."

"Do you still have a spy?! I haven't even _told_ anyone other than Blinky!"

"Maybe we tapped your phones," she shrugged, still grinning with pointed teeth. Jim spluttered angrily.

"As to why we're here, we've come to train you in the ways of Changelings, in ways that fool Blinkous would never do," Strickler said, effectively cutting off Jim's angry retort to Nomura.

Jim's first instinct was to growl and slap away the offer unceremoniously. But… everything ached from his loss, his loss because he wasn't fighting like his dark twin- like a changeling. His mirror beat him due to its lack of restraint and willingness to fight like a beast, and it had nearly took away his life.

To beat that thing, to beat Gunmar, he'd need to learn to fight that way as well.

"When do we start?" he asked, swallowing the angry retort.

"Now," Nomura responded, yanking out her twin blades. Jim pulled out his own, hunkering down into a fighting position. A look of thoughtfulness passed over the pink changeling's face, and she slotted them back, much to Jim's confusion. "As much as I'd love to fight you, perhaps we should start with basic movement training," she explained. "Your body type is similar to my own, Gynt, so followed me."

With that small warning, Nomura launched herself across the warehouse, flipping and bouncing off the walls. Jim shot off after her, shaking off his awe and slapping his jaw shut.

He nailed the first few jumps, but quickly found himself lagging behind. When it came to bouncing and running on walls, he immediately face planted, his tail drooping over his head as he formed a pathetic arc on the ground.

Nomura laughed as he shook himself off, brushing the dirt off his fluff, before launching himself after her with renewed vigor.

xXx

Claire and Toby entered the warehouse through a shadow portal, and were greeted with a strange sight: Jim, playing tag with Nomura. They stood in awe, the pair seemingly unaware of their existence, and for a moment they watched Jim perform jumps and flips with a trace of clumsiness, attempting to copy Nomura's flawless grace.

Toby broke the silence with a loud "what?!" and Jim launched himself a into the air out of fright, flailing before he came back down to earth.

"I was just… training," Jim said awkwardly, internally thanking that Strickler had left some time ago.

Nomura seemed to have the same idea, not mentioning Strickler and electing to say, "I have decided to train him so he can actually stand a chance. You don't want a repeat of this morning, do you?"

Claire and Toby slumped in allowance.

"That's it for today, Little Gynt. You are tired, and I have better things to do. See you tomorrow, same place," Nomura said easily, sliding into her human form and waltzing out the door.

Jim slowly walked over to his friends, awkward silence and tension settling over the group.

"So… how was school?"

"We're really just gonna' ignore that?"

"I mean, she explained it well enough," Jim defended. "I need to beat Gunmar, and I need to beat… whatever you wanna' call that thing, and to do that, I need to fight more like it- more like her. She can help me, she already has."

"You _did_ look more graceful than you were before," Claire allowed.

"Well, before I was running into everything, so I would've _hoped_ I'd improved," Jim hummed, then put his hands up when Claire gave him a hearty glare and admitted, "but yes! I think it's helping a lot."

Toby merely rolled his eyes at the couple.

"Claire, can you shadow staff us to the caves?" Toby sighed. "Let's get this dumb-dumb healed up fully."

"Why didn't I think of that _before?"_ she hissed. Jim slapped a hand over his face.

"You're saying I didn't have to wait in here?"

"You didn't think of it either!"

"Alright, that's fair."


	14. Rewrite Announcement

**Hello! Sylph here. Or Feather- whatever you so desire to call me.**

 **It's been a bit, huh?**

 **I'm here to announce that this fic will be rewritten.**

 **Considering this is the fic I am known for- for some bizarre reason- I'd like it to be exemplary. As it is... eh. It's not my best work. I want it to be my best work.**

 **As I go through and rewrite chapters, I'll add a note such as "REWRITTEN (DATE)" so you can know what is new and what is not. I'm also gonna repost all the old stuff on an other fic (so all the rec stuff I've gotten still leads to the best/newest one).**

 **Anyways, thank you all for the lovely reviews and compliments. You may not believe it, but I read and cherish all of them!**

 **I deeply apologize that this fic has run so off-schedule, haha!**


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